Christmas is approaching faster than sleighs in the snow. And for those who haven’t planned that big holiday dinner, Los Alamos County offers a few options for dining out the night before the big day.

Tris DeRoma/Monitor

Lily Mockler-Wood, 4, helps paint the windows of the Pajarito Brewpub and Grill Monday in preparation for the holidays. The Brewpub plans to open early Christmas Eve. Mockler-Wood is painting a lamb under the watchful guidance of Rose Cardona.

These restaurants will be closed Christmas Day, but will be serving special Christmas Eve dinners for diners looking to spend holiday meals with friends and family.

Some of the restaurants are taking reserved seatings with pre-planned menus, some are business as usual but shorter hours.

Some restaurants are offering carry out, but with various windows and lead times for food prep. For this article, some of the restaurants have included New Year’s plans, while others have not planned that far ahead.

Restaurants advise diners to check their websites for any new information or updates. All of the restaurants have gift certificates and cards for last-minute gifting.

Pig + Fig Cafe

The Pig + Fig Café at 11 Sherwood Blvd., in White Rock, will be open Christmas Eve from 6 a.m.-4 p.m. and closed on Christmas Day. On New Year’s Eve, the Pig + Fig will close at 4 p.m. On New Year’s Day the restaurant will open from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. for brunch.

For New Years Eve, the restaurant will offer a 6 p.m. and a 9 p.m., six-course dinner event with a pre-planned menu.
“One sitting will be for the people who don’t want to be on the street at midnight, and the other is for the people that want to party,” co-owner Fernando Crucet said.

The first plate will include chilled jumbo shrimp with red chile cocktail sauces and house made pita crackers; the second plate is grapefruit salad with pine nuts and wild arugula; the third plate is a stew of white beans, with Spanish chorizo, in a tomato paprika broth with brioche croutons; the fourth plate will feature a braised pork ossobucco with a lobster sherry cream sauce and polenta cake; the fifth plate will consist of Welsh white cheddar, green apple compote and a sourdough loaf and the sixth plate will be a caramel pear cheesecake with a lemon sorbet and mango crème anglaise.

Each of the courses is paired with the appropriate wines.

The Blue Window Bistro

The Blue Window Bistro is also having Christmas Eve reservation-only seatings, the first one at 4 p.m.. The restaurant will be closed Christmas Day and the day after. The restaurant also plan to be open New Year’s Eve, but the owner is not sure if they are going to have a seating-style arrangement or just a regular menu.

Sirphey owner Prashant Jain has branched out over the past year, adding a Sirphey in Bandelier National Monument and partnering the Sirphey brand with the UnQuarked wine tasting room. For people looking to add some international flair to their holidays should have no trouble adding a little international flair to their celebrations.

Sirphey Bandelier will keep regular hours for Christmas, but Sirphey Los Alamos plans to fulfill all holiday orders Friday and Saturday and be closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

“We will be doing a holiday feast from all over the world,” Jain said. “We will have six different cuisines, Japanese, two German dishes, French, Indian and a couple of others.”

Sirphey unQuarked is where the party will be happening Friday. unQuarked will have a party Friday that will go until 2 a.m. Saturday morning. The party will feature three deejays from Santa Fe and Los Alamos to keep things moving.

Of course, party goers will be able to have some Sirphey cuisine and wine. A $5 cover fee will be charged at the door after 9 p.m.

All of the Sirpheys will be closed Christmas Day.

Pajarito Brewpub and Grill

The Pajarito Brewpub and Grill, the home of the LANL Burger and the best truffle fries this side of the Mississippi, will be opening early Christmas Eve. According to owner Patrick Mockler-Wood, the grill will be open from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. They will be closed Christmas Day, but the pub will keep regular hours New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

“Even though we don’t take reservations, we suggest larger parties call ahead,” Mockler-Wood said of the holiday celebrations.

Ruby K’s Bagel Cafe

Ruby K’s Bagel Cafe scrumptious bagels and sandwiches will be available Christmas Eve until 1 p.m., and the shop will be closed Christmas Day.

El Parasol

El Parasol will be open 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Christmas Eve. For those looking to order some of their famous tamales and enchiladas for family get togethers should order them at least 24 hours in advance.

Los Alamos Co-op Market

The Los Alamos Co-op will be open Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve from 7 a.m.-5 p.m., and closed Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Right now, the co-op is stocked with Beeler’s Holiday Hams, with spiral bone-in and boneless options. The co-op is also having a raffle for a ham, and the winner will be announced on Dec. 22.

The store also sells a large variety of other meats, fruits and homegrown goodies such as local whipped honey. They are also selling Chocolate Maven pies, and are taking special orders until Dec. 20.

The store also have plenty of last-minute gift items to choose from also, including calendars, soaps, lotions, and also sorts of canisters to help reduce waste. The store also carries a line of Fair Trade Terra Jewelry.

For more information, visit losalamos.coop. The store is located in the Entrada Business Park just past the airport when leaving Los Alamos.